Not a Friend, But Family
by RomanticlyXTragic
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Draco become friends on the Hogwarts Express and are all sorted into Slytherin, but when they run into a crying Hermione Granger they don't let house pretenses keep the four from being more than friends, but family to each other.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is based off of an idea Hotkat144 had, all hats off goes to her.**

**Disclaimer: If only it were mine.**

**Chapter 1:**** The ****Ickle****Firsties**

THE Famous Harry Potter meandered around King Cross station trying to find Platform 9 and ¾. Obviously, he was lost. Taking another look between platforms 9 and 10 a large group of people walked past him.

"Honestly Fred, telling Ginny you'd send her a Hogwarts toilet seat!" The older women said to one of her many red-headed children. Harry went after them.

"Excuse me, I need to get to the Hogwarts Express, but I'm afraid I don't know how."

"Well, you see the wall for Platform 9? What you do is run towards it, the faster the better; and you pass through to the train platform. Percy, why don't you show him?"

Percy, a studious looking boy prepared to run at the wall. Harry half expected him to crash and have all of his belongings thrown everywhere, but he disappeared. A pair of boys who looked eerily similar followed suit with a cackle.

"Now dear, why don't you go through, and the 3 of us will follow you?" Harry nodded, and ran at the wall just like the older 3 boys. Just as she had promised, the woman and her 2 remaining kids followed suit. "By the way, I'm Mrs. Weasley, this is my daughter Ginny and my youngest son Ron he's a first year undoubtedly like you."

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Everyone in a radius of 20 feet gasped and stared at the boy. Even the older Weasley boys joined them.

"Pleasure to meet you Harry Potter, I'm Percy Weasley," he shook hands with the oldest of the group.

"We're Fred and George-"

"-guess which one's which." The boys, twins it seemed introduced themselves.

The scarlet train behind them whistled making every last student rush towards it.

"Be good this year boys! Stay out of trouble! It was a pleasure meeting you Harry, hope to see you soon!" Mrs. Weasley said her last good byes as they all boarded the train.

"Er, would you mind if I sat with you?"Harry asked awkwardly. "I'm afraid I don't know many people."

"Yeah," Ron's smile was huge. "Let's go find an empty compartment." The boys walked up and down the aisle looking for empty seats until a platinum blond head stuck out of a compartment in front of them.

"Looking for a place to sit?" he asked. When they nodded the boy opened the door wider and invited them to sit with him. "I'm Draco Malfoy." He said shaking hands.

"Ron Weasley,"

"I think we're related in some way." Draco interrupted; this seemed to make the boys smile.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said. Draco looked at Ron who nodded and smiled. "And apparently everyone thinks it's bloody brilliant?" he was smiling at his new friends as they explained that his name was one of the few that made people have hope in the wizarding world.

* * *

Hermione Granger walked down the train several times looking for a toad, even opening several compartments asking the inhabitants if they had seen it.

"Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one," she would say. She noticed as she said entered one compartment that there were only 3 boys sitting together.

"No, sorry." The raven haired boy told her. There was a mound of sweets between the boys, she knew no to disturb boys while eating anything, so Hermione nodded her thanks and closed the door behind her.

* * *

"My entire family has been in Gryffindor, my parents are kind of hoping that I'm sorted in there too, but that would just make me the same old Weasley wouldn't it?" Ron opened another chocolate frog.

"My family has been in Slytherin, some people even say that Malfoy's are descendants from Salazar Slytherin himself. My father would beat me if I didn't get sorted into that house."

Harry sat there, taking all of this information in. The houses, sorting, the rivalries, and most importantly of all to Ron and Draco, the quidditch which sounded like a very competitive sport.

"Maybe we'll all be sorted into the same house! Whether it be Slytherin or Gryffindor," Ron said leaning forward.

"And even if we're not, we won't let that think of each other as less."

"Exactly," Harry said. "You're my first real wizard friends, so hopefully we're in the same house, if not oh well!" the boys whooped and cheered excitedly as they ate more sweets.

When the train started slowing they all jumped up and changed into their school robes, shoving the rest of the candy into their luggage, why waste it? Exiting the train they found a boat and a horseless carriage to take them to the castle, where they waited in the Entrance Hall.

"This is exciting, isn't it mates?" Draco said after they had been there for 10 minutes.

"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher here, now if you do not already know when you enter the Great Hall you will be sorted into 1 of 4 houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, hopefully you will find your housing arrangements adequate for you will be there for all of your 7 years. Now please follow me." The students all walked through the grand oak doors into the room with hundreds of chattering students. A 3-legged stool with a raggedy hat sat in the middle of the floor.

"That's the Sorting Hat," Ron explained. "It's going to tell us what house we're going to be in.

Harry was astounded when a rip in the brim opened and the hat came to life, it sang a song describing the 4 houses. Then, McGonagall called the first student who was promptly sorted into Hufflepuff. Eventually a girl called Hermione Granger was called up.

"Is that the girl we met on the train? She was looking for a toad or something." Ron asked, both Harry and Draco nodded. She was sorted into Gryffindor where the Weasley twins cheered loudly for no known reason.

"Potter, Harry." The old witch called. The room grew quiet as Harry sat on the stool and slid the hat over his eyes.

"Mr. Potter, I was wondering when I would be meeting you. Let's see now shall we? Courageousness fills your heart, the ambition to be someone is in your blood Mr. Potter. You agree with that? Well then, better be….SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table cheers echoed as 2 other tables politely clapped and the Gryffindor table sulked. Harry walked to the table all the way on the left, his new table. He was met with handshakes and claps on the back.

Eventually the names got to "Malfoy, Draco." Who was sorted into Slytherin after all of about 2 seconds. He nodded to Ron who looked a pit pale and sat next to Harry. They talked about a few things, and then listened intently as Ron was called.

"Weasley, Ronald." His 3 older brothers held their breath as the hat took almost too long to place him. Finally the hat had made a decision.

"SLYTHERIN!" it called. Everyone gasped as Ron's cheeks burned red, he shrugged to his brothers and ran towards his new friends. Immediately his new housemates seemed to accept him and congratulated him on making it into the greatest house in the school.

**A/N: There you go! Thanks again to Hotkat144 for letting me use the idea.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for your feedback,**** especially Taylor5795 who tried to scare me into writing this chapter :D.****As a gesture of my thanks****, here's chapter 2. :D**

**Chapter 2: ****Noises in the Bathroom**

Hermione watched the red-headed boy join the other boys she had seen him with earlier.

"That's so weird," the girl named Angelina said. She leaned towards Hermione. "The twins, the ones we pointed out earlier, that's their little brother."

"No Weasley has ever NOT been in Gryffindor, it's like…..like evil to them!" Alicia added. Hermione looked at the other red-heads at the table, the twins had identical looks of disbelief and the older one just looked angry.

"I bet there'll be a howler tomorrow for poor Ron."

"Is that his name?" Hermione asked the older girls.

"Yeah," Katie said. "He's the youngest boy; they still have a little sister."

"How many Weasley kids are there?" She asked them, this family was seriously interesting.

"Seven kids, all boys with only one girl." Angelina said, but just then the table was crowded with platters of food. All sorts of pudding and pie, meats, and several drinks appeared.

She turned around and glanced at the trio talking and laughing. Maybe she would make some friends like that this year.

Draco looked across the room, surveying all of the students. The Hufflepuffs were all gushing to each other about their summer; the Ravenclaws were all analyzing their food, and Gryffindors. He had a feeling that they weren't as bad as his father made them out to be. Scanning the table his eyes set on the face of a bushy-haired girl, the same girl who had stopped in their compartment to ask if they had seen a toad.

The pair locked eyes for a moment before he turned his attention back to Ron, who was explaining quidditch to Harry. Currently they were on the players and what each individual did for the team.

"Are you going to try out Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Of course Potter, seeker of course, the only spot my father wants me to be. What about you?"

"I'm not sure yet, beater sounds kind of interesting though." He started eating more food. "What about you Ron? Are you going to try out?"

"Dunno, maybe I'll try beater with you." Ron said after swallowing.

Draco looked back towards the girl wondering why she had looked so pensive before, but she was gone. He looked up the length of the table but saw no head of bushy brown hair. Shrugging, he helped himself to more food and talked to his new friends.

Hermione sat at the table thinking about the three boys. Of course she'd read about Harry Potter, he was the boy who was going to save the wizarding world, and Ron Weasley was the first in his family to not be in Gryffindor. But who was the other boy, the blond one?

Two girls sat next to her, one on either side.

"That's Draco Malfoy," the blond girl started.

"Isn't he just gorgeous?" the Indian girl said.

"Erm, no not really." Hermione said looking from girl to girl, both of their faces fell.

"Well you know," the blond started. "He only goes for the best. If he doesn't get it, his father gets angry."

"And dealing with an angry Lucius Malfoy is a bad day. I heard the Minister himself is afraid to not give Mr. Malfoy what he wants."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Hermione asked after a few moments.

"The blond looked appalled. "I'm Lavender Brown, and this is Parvati Patel."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger."

"Charmed, listen, if you're going to find a boyfriend with that mess you call hair we're going to have to help you." Lavender acted like she cared what Hermione wanted.

"I'm fine with my hair thanks,"

"Oh no, you need to straighten it, maybe even get it cut short." Parvati cut in.

"No, I don't, I'll keep my hair this way."

"But you'll never get a boyfriend if you do." Lavender sat there glaring.

"I don't want a boyfriend, I don't need one." The girls gasped.

"Well fine, go around school with your frizzy ugly hair, and see if you even make any friends." Lavender seethed dramatically.

Hermione could feel the tears.

Alicia looked over just in time. "Hey, why don't you just leave her alone? Go play with your make-up or something." Then she looked at Hermione with a concerned expression. "Are you alright honey?"

She nodded. "Where are the bathrooms?"

"I'll take you," Alicia motioned for her to follow, and she did. With her head down so no one could see the tears now rolling down her cheeks. "What did they say to you?" she asked when they reached the bathroom.

"Th-they said th-that I wasn't going to make any fr-friends because of my hair." New tears escaped.

"Hermione, don't listen to those two, ever. From what I've heard from the other first years they were the biggest jerks on the train, critiquing everyone's clothes and hair." She wiped away another tear. "Just don't let them get to you."

"Thank you," she whispered as she hugged the older girl.

"You're welcome, besides, Angelina, Katie, and I will be your friends!" this made Hermione smile. "Do you want to go back in there or would you rather stay in here?"

"I'll just stay here, you go back to dinner." With one last hug the older girl walked out, looking back over her shoulder to Hermione who was looking in the mirror.

Dinner was over; Harry, Ron, and Draco were walking towards the dungeons.

"I still think the Chudley Cannons are sooo much better than Ireland's team." Ron was busy pointing to Draco to watch where he was going. He ran into a suit of armor knocking it over and falling with it.

Draco and Harry fell down with him in laughter, tears rolling down their faces.

"You could've warned me or something!" he said, his ears turning almost maroon.

"But then we wouldn't have seen it!" Harry choked out through fits of laughter. Draco, who was holding his sides and rolling on the floor, finally let out a deep breath and rolled onto his back.

"Well, now we're the only ones-" Ron started, but Draco held a hand up making him stop.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered.

"Hear what?" Ron all but shouted.

"Shush Ron!" Harry hissed. "I hear it too."

"It's coming from in there." The blond pointed towards a door a few feet away from them. "It sounds like…..like someone's crying." He got up and walked towards the door. Harry silently followed and Ron tried but the metal armor made too much noise. Finally Ron stopped kicking the armor and walked behind the other two.

The door had nothing on it, nothing saying what it was, a door closet, a bathroom, the _girl's_ bathroom, and the boys couldn't decide on what it was. Suddenly, another sob emanated from inside. Draco reached for the handle and pushed it open.

"Hello?" he asked pushing it open enough so all three could see inside.

**A/N: Yay! Second chapter is finally done and posted. Hope you all liked it and I'm working on the third chapter now! So until then,**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Emmy1124, because she'll probably hate me if I don't update soon :D**

**Chapter 3: The Revenge  
**

The person against the wall was curled up in a ball, the only things visible under her bushy brown hair was her feet and her back. Draco realized that sitting before them was the girl whose eye he had caught during dinner.

"Go away," she mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked kneeling in front of her.

"Just girls that I have to live with for the next 7 years," She sighed finally raising her head to look at them.

Draco knelt beside her, "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head.

"I've already talked about it to Alicia-"

"Alicia Spinnet?" Ron asked. The others stared at him. "She dated my brother for awhile…" his ears turned pink again.

"Which one?" The girl asked. "I know you have a lot of them."

"Five actually…but she dated George, one of the twins." Ron sat with them on the bathroom floor. "I'm Ron Weasley," he said.

"I know, Alicia told me earlier. I'm Hermione Granger.

"Draco Malfoy,"

"Harry Potter," they all smiled at each other. "I guess you don't know where your common room is either, if you've been in here since dinner." He said, Hermione laughed a bit.

"No, I don't. I'm in Gryffindor, by the way."

"I know," Draco blurted out. "I saw you in the Great Hall. "We're all in Slytherin."

"Are we going to hate each other now?" she asked, her eyes growing wide, "I mean, we're in houses that absolutely hate each other, and you three seem so nice and I 

don't really have any friends in my own house." Hermione looked at the boys, worry flashing in her eyes.

"We don't hate you, Hermione." Harry said rubbing her arm lightly.

She smiled, "Thanks, now do you guys have any idea how to get to our common rooms?"

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance," four pairs of eyes met one pair of ice blue.

"Professor Dumbledore," Draco said nodding his head, beside him Hermione squeaked. "Could you please tell us were our common rooms are?"

"Yes," he folded his thin hands in front of him. "You three are in the dungeon, there's a painting in the third corridor from Professor Snape's room. Miss Fayer will ask you for the password, which is Meus Domus." The boys nodded, but didn't move. "Miss Granger, your common room is on the seventh floor, the portrait is of a woman in a pink dress. Your password is Audacia. Now please go find your respective common rooms, you'll want to be well rested for your first day of classes."

When the old man left his blue eyes still twinkling with their secrets, and the four children stood again.

"Do you want us to walk with you Hermione?" Harry asked, but she shook her head.

"I'll be fine, thank you." They waved and went on their own ways.

"I wonder who would be so mean to her, she seems so nice." Ron said as the boys got prepared for bed.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that whoever it was isn't going to leave her alone any time soon." Draco answered.

The other two nodded. "We haven't even known her for that long and she seems really nice." They reached the painting and a young olive skinned girl with shinning black hair smiled. "Meus Domus," Harry said and the portrait opened.

"Blimey Draco, where were you?" Draco extended his hand towards the boy.

"We investigated something before coming here Blaise, nothing to worry about." The boy called Blaise was as tall as Draco but his complete opposite. Where Draco was almost transparently pale, Blaise had black skin with indigo colored eyes and black hair. Draco turned around and smiled at the other two. "I met these boys on the train. This is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."

Blaise's eyes widened. "Bloody hell…" he shook Ron and Harry's hands before the four of them sat on the leather couches by the fire. "I can't believe it, a Malfoy and a Zabini sitting in the Slytherin common room with the youngest Weasley boy and Harry Bleedin' Potter."

"I can't wait to see what Weasley's parents have to say about this." Malfoy smirked.

"Oh no! They'll be furious, and come to think of it I'd watch anything Fred and George touch or give you for the rest of the year." He laid his head back on the couch.

"What do you mean?" Harry was confused as Ron laughed.

"They're the pranksters of our family and the best in the school. I'd just watch out for them." Harry nodded.

"Audacia," Hermione whispered to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Thank you." She murmured when the lady smiled and opened the common room up for her.

"Hermione, there you are!" Katie said from the couch. "We were wondering where you'd run off to." The young girl sat next to Katie and smiled.

"Alicia told us what happened, and we'll help you get them back if you'd like." Angelina said; a smirk on her face.

"And if there's any revenge going on in this House, we'd better be invited to help." A deep voice said behind them.

"Well of course, that's what will make this interesting." Alicia added. The twins walked around and sat on the arms of the couch.

"Good," one said and when he noticed Hermione he smiled. "Hello, I'm Gred."

"And I'm Forge," she shook both their hands.

"Those aren't really your names are they?" she asked amused.

"Actually this is Fred." Katie poked the one on Hermione's left, "And that's George." The other one waved over to her."They are the school pranksters,"

"And we're going to help you get revenge on who ever you'd like-"

"-free of charge." George added.

"But only this one time, any other revenge getting will cost you five sickles per item used."

Hermione was getting very skeptical just hearing any talk of revenge. "I really don't think that getting back at them is the best idea."

"Nonsense, we've all got a dungbomb with us." Alicia started. "So, you are going to get your things and bring them to our dorm, and then set them off in yours. Until the smell wears away, we have a makeshift bed for you all set up."

"And if that doesn't work we have a back up plan." Fred said ruffling her hair.

"And what's that?" The girls all looked one another and smiled, while the twins leaned in closer to the circle.

"We're going to make them the ugliest things in the school,-"

"Besides that Parkinson girl," George murmured under his breath.

"-and make you, the prettiest."

Hermione's jaw dropped, but something inside of her made her nod and agree with the plan.

"Great, let's go get your things before those cows come back from their gossip session in the loo."

And so the four girls set off to get Hermione's trunk and move it to their room, while Fred and George sat in the common room making sure Lavender and Parvati didn't return earlier than expected.

**A/N: Finished, finally! I'm going to make the reviews interesting. I need something HUGE to happen in the next chapter, and I'll take ideas. The best one gets credit and gets to happen! So let's get going!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another chapter, rejoice! And this one is the prank! Thanks to HotKat again for the splendid idea for a story!**

**Chapter 4: The Revenge Part 2**

"Ok, first we're going to the boys' dorm so the twins can help." Alicia said rummaging through Hermione's trunk for clothes to wear that night and the next day.

"We're going to do a semi-make over." Katie said grabbing her bag of toiletries.

"What's a semi-make over?" Hermione asked unsure about what they were talking about.

"A make over but with nothing too drastic of a change. We don't want you to look like those two brats, but we're going to help you look more grown-up." Angelina said

The girls walked down the stairs and back up the other side where Fred and George were waiting on their beds near the window.

They sat Hermione down on one of the beds and Alicia stared brushing her hair. Even though it was bushy and overly curly, it didn't get tangled as much as someone would have thought. Katie took some cream out of her bag and rubbed it all over the young girls face making it smell like Aloe Vera and feel like the skin was drying out. And Angelina was messing with her fingernails, cutting them and making sure there were no sharp edges. Then she took out a bottle of clear nail polish and smoothed it over each nail evenly.

"So Hermione-" one of the twins, Fred maybe, started asking her.

"We hear you know our little brother." The other finished.

"Ron? Yeah I met him last night." She didn't want to move much incase what ever was on her face wouldn't work if she did.

"He's a traitor," they started again.

"Maybe Ginny will end up in Ravenclaw next year too."

"There's no way that would happen." Alicia said from behind her. "Ginny's way too ambitious and outgoing to be in Ravenclaw, she needs to be in Gryffindor."

"True," one of the twins pointed out, taking the brush from her. "But with Ron of all people being in Slytherin anything could happen right now." Which ever brother was brushing her hair was doing it so there was no tugging or pulling like she normally needed to do in the mornings. The other twin sat on the bed and watched.

The banter continued while Angelina tried unsuccessfully to pluck Hermione's eyebrows without hurting her too much and eventually had to resort to looking for a spell, Alicia parted her hair every which way after putting a smoothing potion in it, and Katie put lotion all over Hermione's hands that smelled like vanilla and told her that it kept the skin strong and would help them not dry out as much.

Hermione smiled, even if she was younger then all them, she felt like she had real friends.

"I'm not exaggerating Harry! My brothers will try with everything they have to pull a prank on you. Can you imagine how they'll go around school chanting 'We pranked Potter' like a couple of idiots?" Ron threw his head back on the couch and the other three boys laughed at him.

"Maybe, but what ever they try will have to be while we're around, and I'm sure after all these years of living with them you can spot when they're up to something?" Blaise asked hoping he was correct.

"I can tell when they're up to something, but what they're doing is what gets me!"

"I'm sure your other brother, what's his name Perry? I'm sure he'd be furious to see them prank you." Malfoy said without much concern, he had received a letter from his father and was re-reading it.

"He would probably give them detention, but not on principle, just because they would be breaking school rules." He said. "And his name's Percy." Ron added as an after thought.

Harry was lost in his own thoughts resting his head on the arm of the couch when Draco got the attention of the three boys.

"Get this; my father wants me to bring Harry over to the mansion for the Christmas hols." He said knitting his eyebrows together in confusion.

"You haven't written to him since you got here." Blaise said equally confused.

"Do you know how quickly word probably spread around about how the 'Prodigious Harry Potter got sorted into Slytherin?" Ron chimed in. "There are people all over the world either crying and mourning or rejoicing in the fact that Harry could still go to the dark side."

"Why would I go to the 'dark side'?" Harry asked looking at each of his friends in turn.

Blaise looked at Draco, and when the blond merely nodded and folded the letter up he continued.

"I guess you should probably hear the story before people start judging you."

When the smelly stuff on her face dried Alicia maneuvered Hermione into the bathroom and washed off her face leaving it smooth and refreshed. The young girl merely smiled as she toweled off her face and walked back into the room. Katie nodded proudly at her work and then said something about meeting up with a Ravenclaw. Slowly each of the inhabitants of the room left with a vague reason until it was just Hermione, Angelina, and Fred.

Angelina yawned and stood up. "Well, it's been fun, but I'm going to bed." And with that she walked out closing the door behind her.

"I guess I should probably go too…" Hermione said moving to stand.

"Its fine, you can stay if you'd like. You're a lot of fun to talk to." Fred said giving her a smile. Hermione fought the blush creeping up her neck.

"So how many brothers do you have?" Hermione asked scratching her nose.

"Five brothers and one sister." He said simply. "George and I are obviously twins and technically the middle children." Hermione made a confused face. "Well, Bill's the oldest, he works for Gringotts as a curse breaker in Egypt. Then there's Charlie who works in Romania taming dragons, then Percy, me, George, Ron, and Ginny." He finished, Hermione nodded that she understood. "What about you?"

"Only child," She said shrugging. "My parents didn't have any siblings either." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"You can have some of my family." Fred said excitedly. "But not Ginny, she's all mine." Hermione chuckled.

"How about we just share them?" She asked smiling. "I mean Ron's my friend, you're my friend now, I think, and you're family sounds pretty fun."

With that Fred dove into funny stories about pranks Bill, Charlie and the twins had pulled on their younger siblings and parents. When George walked into the room and fell onto his bed snoring Hermione stood up and said goodnight to Fred turning around at the door giving him a smile. She made her way up to the third year girls' dorms and climbed into the "bed" for the night and smiled into her pillow.

"So, the Malfoy family is notoriously evil and the Weasley's are blood-traitors because they don't care as much about their blood purity?" Harry asked for the third time.

"You've got it." Blaise said nodding.

"And what about your family?" Harry asked.

"Well, we've been good friends with the Malfoy's since before my father was born, so people think that we're on the Dark Lord's side, but really we're neutral. My father would rather not get into the niches and save his future family from any ridicule and hurt."

"So most of the people in this house are from death eater parents or families like yours?" Harry asked leaning back into the couch.

Blaise nodded and stood. "Exactly, but I think it's time we went to bed, wouldn't want to be late for breakfast in the morning." Harry followed him up the stairs and into the dormitory.

**A/N: It's done! I started it forever ago and never finished it, but here it is! It's longer then my previous chapters too, so I really hope you enjoy it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm baaaaaaaack! It's been a rough couple of years but I'm finally back in fanfic land to write for you all!**

**Chapter 5: The First Day**

Hermione woke up the next morning when Alicia ran back into the room. "Guys, wake up!" She said running to each bed and shaking the girls. "The dungbombs went off in the first year's dormitory last night and none of them woke up, now everything smells bad!" The sleepy girls started laughing. "The blond one was even complaining how her skin smells bad after a shower."

"That's what they deserve, after picking on poor Hermione for no reason." Katie said sitting up in bed and stretching. The other girls agreed. "I say we all get dressed and then wake up the boys for breakfast." Picking the extra blankets off the floor Hermione folded them and set them on the window seat. Then got dressed like the other girls and followed them across the stairs to the boys dorm.

Walking in, the girls each went to a different bed pulling the covers off of each boy and shaking him.

"Time for breakfast, let's go!" Angelina hollered to another boy Hermione hadn't met last night.

Eventually, after grumbling and some fighting the boys agreed to meet them all in the common room in five minutes.

"Who was that other boy?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, that was Lee. He was busy trying to sucker people into giving him money last night." Alicia explained sitting in an over stuffed chair and crossing her legs. "He's just like the twins except likes to go off on his own ventures every once in awhile."

"Sometimes I wonder if he has a secret girlfriend." Katie said shrugging.

"Good morning girls," one of the twins said rubbing his eyes. "Let's go eat." He said.

The other perked up, "How did the plan go?" He walked next to Hermione and looked to each girl for a moment, looking for an answer.

"Everything they own smells horrible, even their skin. The bombs went off in their sleep last night." Everyone laughed, except the boy named Lee who wanted an explination.

"Right, Lee this is Hermione Granger. First-year who was tormented by two other girls we all found extremely annoying. So what better way to get them to leave everyone alone than by making them stink." Lee shook Hermione's hand and smiled. "I know, it was a brilliant idea that George and I cooked up." The group sat at the Gryffindor table each loading their plates with food.

"Hermione, there was something I meant to ask you." Angelina said quietly. "What were you and Fred talking about last night? You were in there for awhile."

Trying to fight the blush again Hermione shrugged. "Just got to know each other, talked about his family and a bunch of pranks he's pulled on all of them. That part took awhile." The girls laughed.

"Just so you know, he's a really great guy." Angelina winked. "Also, and easy way to tell them apart is that Fred has a mole on the left side of his neck, George doesn't have one." Hermione nodded and looked across the hall.

Noticing the boys she met last night, she waved tentatively. When they all waved back she exhaled, not even realizing that she had been holding her breath.

The older students finished breakfast and went to leave. "Do you want help getting to class Hermione?" Alicia offered.

"I have charms, and I don't really know where that is."

"That's near the transfiguration room which is where we're all headed. Katie and Angelina had wandered off to talk to another boy down the table.

"We'll take her Alicia, go talk to Wood about practice times." One of the twins said taking a bite of toast. _No mole must be George._ Alicia nodded and went off to join her friends. "Do you have a nickname Hermione?" The same boy asked. Taking a sip of water she shook her head. "I reckon we should give her one Fred."

"I think that's a good idea George." He replied.

"Mia." They both said at the same time. Hermione smiled. "We knew you'd like it." They said simultaneously again.

"Anyway, let's get you off to class. Don't want to be the last in the hallways or Peeve's will throw chalk at you or something. The three walked up the stairs and eventually reaching the fifth floor they pointed Hermione to the right and told her which door to go in.

"See you later." She said waving.

"Who are you waving to Draco?" Blaise asked at breakfast noticing all three boys were doing it.

"A girl that we met last night, her name's Hermione Granger." He explained. "She's really nice."

"Some of the girls had been making fun of her so she was upset last night and we heard her crying in the bathroom." Ron said shoveling food in his mouth. "Seems as though she's made friends with my brothers."

"So, if they're friends with Hermione and so are we could that mean that they won't prank us?" Harry asked.

"Harry, I'm their brother and they still go out of their way to torment me. I doubt we're in the clear." Sighing the boys finished their plates and walked out towards the first class of the day.

They walked up the stairs to defense against the dark arts and all sat in the back. The professor wore a filthy red turban and stuttered horribly.

"This is going to be a long year." Harry whispered after about fifteen minutes of class.

"Defense against the d-dark arts is a very important skill to learn." The professor said from the front of the room. "P-protecting yourselves against dark m-magic could potentially save your lives one day if you ever find that you are c-caught in a duel." He went on about curses for the rest of the lecture.

"Fred, do you think it's odd that the girls took Mia in as their own after only a few hours of being back at school?" George asked after they had parted ways with the young girl. "I mean it's like they're going to try and shape her to be a hybrid of the three of them and raise her to be some brutal quidditch player who also gets tons of dates and good marks."

Fred thought for a moment. "That would be an interesting development. She would be multi-cultural and also very strong, almost like a man." The boys laughed as they walked into the classroom and took a seat with Lee. "But I think you're right, they're going to teach her the ropes of being here."

Fred sat in his seat and thought about how innocent Mia was. _Innocent and beautiful._

**A/N: If you have any ideas for the story, please review or message me and let me know! I would love to incorporate other ideas! Also, I'm (obviously) adding a romantic relationship between two of the characters and I really hope no one minds.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Some of you don't know this, but the idea for this story was actually thought up by hotkat144 (aka readerforlife) and she's looking for other writers to use her ideas! **

**Chapter 6: Detention**

By lunch time Hermione was starving, not even bothering to return her books to Gryffindor tower she speed walked all the way to the Great Hall and started eating before any of her friends had gotten there.

"Hungry Mia?" The twins said sitting down across from her, followed by the girls. Hermione nodded.

"Since when do you two call her Mia?" Alicia asked smirking.

"Since this morning," George replied. "We decided she needed a nickname, so we gave her one."

Lunch went by with small talk in between mouthfuls of food. When Lavender and Parvati walked in and sat down everyone near them moved causing most of the room to laugh.

"Now they know what it's like." Katie said grinning. "Do you know where your next class is Mia?" She asked as they all went to stand.

"I actually have to run back to the common room, but I should be fine thanks." Hermione waved and walked towards the tower. She would need to run just to get to class but she would make it. Saying the password Hermione bolted up the stairs to her dorm and grabbed the books she needed. Making her way back down the stairs she ran into someone.

"Sorry," She said grabbing the wall to catch her balance.

"My fault Mia," She looked up into the smiling face of a Weasley twin. "Forgot my potions book." He lifted his right hand which held said book. "Here, I'll walk with you."

She agreed to walk, but couldn't tell if it was Fred or George. They exchanged a few words and before the boy walked down to the dungeons he winked. Hermione stopped in her tracks, in the muggle world a wink means something but to the twins it could just mean they're up to no good.

"Shit," she mumbled remembering that she would be late to class if she didn't run. Finally making it (and right on time) Hermione noticed this class was with the Slytherins and the boys had saved her a seat. "Thanks." Harry smiled as she sat next to him; Ron and Draco were at the desk behind them.

Throughout the class Draco noticed Hermione knew almost every answer and by the end had earned Gryffindor almost seventy house points.

"Merlin, I wish she was in Slytherin right now." Draco whispered to Ron who nodded not grasping any knowledge from the lecture except that he had Hermione to help him with homework.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

George smiled as he strolled down to the dungeons whistling as he went. He finally entered the potions room and sitting next to his twin.

"So, are you still not finding anyone attractive this year?" George whispered.

Fred shrugged. "Haven't really thought about it much."

"You're lying, tell me who it is." George always found it odd that his brother never went after girls very aggressively.

"You have to promise not to say to anyone else," George nodded. "Well I think Mia is cool, not bad looking either."

"What are you going to do about it then?"

Fred shrugged again. "I haven't really had time to come up with a game plan for anything. I just kind of thought about hanging out in the group still and getting to know her more first."

Fred was always the sentimental type.

"I'm sure I could help get answers out of her if you'd like." George spoke out of the corner of his mouth as Snape looked over.

Eventually the instructions for the day's potion were put on the board and everyone set out to start it. Being third years, it was easier to get things going.

"Well the other night when everyone was in our dorm, we started talking and then everyone left one by one and we spent hours just talking to each other. It was nice." Shrugging again, Fred started cutting up the ingredients.

"Then maybe you two could be left alone to 'talk' a lot more." George smirked. "I am gonna have to tell the girls though, that way they actually get the hint to leave." Fred nodded.

"Now can we finish this before Snape gets to us?"

After potions the group left for their next class, Fred lagging behind as George and Lee joked with the girls about Snape.

"What's up Fred?" Angelina asked dropping back next to him.

He shrugged. "I'm just a little bit confused right now."

Angelina grabbed his shoulder before entering the next classroom. "Anything I can help with?"

"I think I like Mia and I want to get to know her. George is devising a plan to get everyone out so she and I can talk sometimes but I just think that she would feel awkward if that happened all the time." Fred rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "I just don't know what to do."

"We'll figure it out, don't worry." Ang smiled as she walked past him into the room.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

The boys were walking to their flying class with Mia, as they were walking towards the pitch they heard a clap of thunder.

"It's gonna start storming!" Ron said throwing his arms in the air. As soon as his finished the sentence the rain started coming down on them. Everyone on the grounds ran for cover, the five in the group ran for Hagrid's hut.

When they got there Ron and Harry started pounding on the door. Eventually, the door opened and the five students fell into the hut on top of each other.

"Get back Fang!" They heard the Groundskeeper say pulling his dog back and letting the kids each crawl into his house. "What're yeh all doin' out in tha' rain?" He asked pulling six mugs out of his cupboard and pouring massive amounts of tea into each of them.

"We were on our way to flying with Madame Hooch and it started storming, so we ran in here." Harry explained.

"Don' cha think tha' class was moved inside?" Hagrid asked wiping tea off his chin, "Madame Hooch would'a met everyone in the Entrance Hall." This information made the boys all groan.

"I don't really feel like running out in the rain again," Blaise said almost pouting.

The group sat in silence for a moment, the only noise was the rain hitting the roof of the hut and Fang's deep breathing from the corner until Hermione spoke.

"I think I remember a water repelling charm I read about!"

"Try it on Ron and send him outside," the group laughed as Hermione said the spell. Draco had to practically throw the red-head outside but when he walked back in the water rolled off his clothes and he was still dry making Hermione's smile brighten even more.

After everyone was waterproofed by Hermione, they bid Hagrid farewell and made way for the castle.

Ron looked at the curly-haired witch, "How did you even hear about that spell? That's not anything we would learn this year,"

Shrugging she picked at her thumbnail, "I don't know, I read it in a book from Flourish & Blott's before term started." Walking into the Entrance Hall the five friends stopped in their tracks as they came face-to-face with the flying instructor they had unintentionally blown off.

"Thank you for gracing the rest of us with your presence, ten points each deducted from each of your houses and detention tonight." The woman turned on her heel and glided back towards the retreating class.

"Damn," Ron whispered.

**A/N: This chapter has been long overdue and I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting! I must say that the school year is about to begin again and my updates will be even less frequent. Hopefully I'll have time to at least write over breaks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Flying Lessons**

"Fred, stop stressing." George whispered between bites. "And if you don't start cracking jokes everyone's gonna think something's wrong."

All he could do was nod and push his mashed potatoes around on his plate.

"There you are!" Alicia called across the table. "We were starting to wonder if you had gotten lost or something."

Hermione sat and placed her head on the table. "I got detention," The girls all looked worried, hoping the detention wasn't with Snape. "We were late to class because of that rain storm and Madame Hooch had to tell us when we had to meet her."

"When is it?" George asked a slight smile on his face.

"Tonight at seven-thirty, we have to polish broom handles." Starting to spoon some food on her plate Hermione was still moping.

Everyone was silent for a few moments until Lee spoke up with the obvious question. "You keep saying 'we' like it's a group that got detention," Hermione nodded. "So who else did you get in trouble with?"

"Ron, Harry, Draco, and Blaise."

"Our brother got detention?" Fred and George asked together, astounded.

"Harry Potter got detention?" Katie asked as well.

"Who in the bloody hell is Blaise?" Lee shouted making everyone laugh.

"Yes: Ron got detention. Yes: Harry Potter got detention. Blaise is Draco's best friend from childhood." Everyone nodded in understanding as George continued with how proud he was of his little brother.

The rest of dinner went smoothly, Fred perked up and started acting like himself again and Hermione stopped moping about the detention. When the rest of the group left to return to the common room Hermione walked over to Ron and Harry.

"Ready?" Harry asked, knowing the girl was mentally preparing herself. Getting a nod in return the boys stood. "Here come Draco and Blaise," He added as the trio waited for their other friends.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"I'm telling you Fred, you really need to calm down. It's not that big of a deal!" George threw a quaffle at his twin, "It's not like you're asking her to marry your or anything, you're just going to ask her on a date."

The girls walked in to the dormitory and sat on the couch the group had conjured. "Where are you taking her anyway?" Alicia asked.

"Who's taking who where?" Oliver Wood asked joining the group.

"Fred is going to sneak our new little friend Hermione off to Hogsmeade for a date at the Three Broomsticks." Lee answered making sure everyone was caught up on the plan.

For the next hour, the group ragged on Fred and made jokes about George being left alone while his twin went out. No one had noticed when Hermione walked in the room looking tired and waxy.

"Who's goin' on a date?" She asked from the doorway. _Please don't say Fred, please Merlin let it be someone else._

The group stopped talking and tried to gather their thoughts. "Hermione, have you met Wood?" Katie motioned to the tall boy who put out a hand.

"Pleasure," Oliver said taking the small hand in his gently. "Well lads and lasses, it was good talkin' but I hafta be gettin' to bed. Nice meetin' yah Hermione."

Hermione took his seat on the couch and leaned her head back finally resting it. "Who goes to bed at nine o'clock?" She finally asked breaking the tension in the room.

"Wood." The group chorused causing another bout of laughter.

"How was detention Hermione?" George asked still tossing the quaffle to the girls. "Was it horrible and wicked like we said it would be?"

Laughing Hermione propped her head up on her hand. "It was actually kind of fun. Draco taught me how to ride a broom for a little bit while Madame Hooch was out of the room, other than that we just joked the entire time."

"Wait, you don't know how to ride a broom?" Angelina was appalled by the news and dropped the quaffle as Hermione shook her head no. "You've never been on a broom before in your entire life?"

Hermione shook her head again. "Muggle-born, remember?" The looks on everyone's faces scared her, like she had missed out on the greatest thing of all time. "Should I learn how to now that I'm here?"

"Yes!" Everyone shouted causing the young girl to jump. "If Wood was still here he would be yelling at you, just so you know." Alicia added. "So if you want to be on his good side at all times, learn how to ride a broom and know quidditch terms."

"How am I going to learn all that stuff though?" She asked, noticeably tired. "I don't know anything about either of those things."

"I'll teach you," Fred offered noticing his chance. "It's simple really."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks. I'm going to bed I'll see you all tomorrow."

Everyone said good night to the girl and when the door closed Fred looked at the group. "New plan."

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

When Hermione woke up the next morning she felt exhausted but still got dressed and made her way to breakfast. There weren't many people there yet except for the twins and a few other Gryffindor's she didn't know.

"Morning," She grunted sitting across from the boys and grabbing an apple.

"Morning," they chorused back. "What are you doing tonight, Mia?" Fred asked adding brown sugar to his oatmeal. When she shrugged he continued. "I figured we could start flying tonight, it would be in the room of requirement since it's just basic stuff right now."

"Sounds good, now please explain to me how one plays quidditch." Eventually the entire group showed up and gave their own two cents on the game they loved so much.

"The red ball we were tossing around last night, that's a quaffle. You score points with it by chucking it through the goals posts, on our team that's Alicia, Angelina, and Katie's jobs. Wood keeps the other teams chasers from scoring by defending the goals as keeper."

"What those two goons do for the team is crucial, they're called beaters and they protect us basically."

"See, there are these crazy balls called bludgers that fly around the pitch and try to hit people off their brooms. Beaters hit the bludgers toward players of the other team to deter them from stealing the quaffle or hurting a chaser."

"Then there's the snitch, it's a tiny gold ball with wings that only a few people can see and they play seeker. Whichever seeker gets the snitch first gets their team one-hundred and fifty points which normally wins the game for us but not always. After the snitch is caught, the game is over."

Hermione sat in silence for a moment trying to soak up all the information. "I'm not sure I could ever play this game." She finally said shaking her head.

"There are tons more rules and strategies which Wood is obsessed with creating but those aren't really important to know how to play." Lee finished the conversation. "I'm the announcer so I don't play but I do have to know what to say and how many points to add."

"Ok, well I still don't think I could play but hopefully I'll remember how it's all done." Hermione stood and grabbed her bag. "See you all later." She waved to the group as she left the Great Hall noticing they were in no hurry to get to class.

Katie walked next to Fred towards the dungeons for their first class. "So what's the plan for your date?"

"We're going to the room of requirement to fly around; I can make anything happen in there for the date." The smile on Fred's face was almost Cheshire like. "I guess I'll figure out what we're doing when we get there."

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Hermione got to class and sat with Harry and Ron in the very back.

"Why do you look so happy?" Harry whispered pulling out parchment for notes.

Hermione shrugged. "Fred's going to teach me how to fly a broom tonight and I suppose I'm just excited to learn how."

On the other side of Harry, Ron's ears were turning pink. "Did she just say Fred was going to teach her?" Harry nodded. "This is not going to end well."

**A/N: To be honest, I've been writing this chapter for a very long time but some stuff happened and I haven't really been in a writing mood for awhile. I'm starting to catch up though, so sorry for the delays and I hope you've all stayed with me. Thank you for being so patient.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

By the time Fred was ready to teach Hermione how to fly, nerves started to get the best of him. "George," He whimpered. "What if something happens and she gets hurt?"

"Just make sure there's cushioning on the floor then, you can change the room to anything you'd like. Remember?"

Fred nodded. "Right, so if something happens I can change the room quickly and she won't get hurt."

Lee and George simply laughed as they pushed the babbling red-head out of the dorm and down the stairs. Hermione was sitting on the couch waiting with the rest of the girls and smiled when she saw how nervous Fred looked.

"She doesn't bite Fred," Alicia snickered.

Waving the pair goodbye, the pair walked out of the common room and towards the room of requirement.

Fred took the time to actually take in his date's appearance: Her wavy hair had been pulled back into a pony tail; she was wearing minimal make-up, and had on comfortable looking jeans and a tee-shirt. She was casual and he liked it, though there was a sneaking suspicion that the girls had helped her pick out the clothes.

Likewise, Fred had on jeans and an old grey sweatshirt he had gotten from his older brother Charlie.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"Really Harry, I don't understand why she would let Fred of all people try to teach her how to ride a broom." Ron had been ranting on for the past half hour and while Harry, Draco, and Blaise had simply tuned him out but the rest of Slytherin house had not. "What if she gets hurt?"

"She won't her hurt." Draco deadpanned, trying to keep his friend's head from exploding. "I'm sure your brother will make sure that nothing will happen, he's a good flyer isn't he?"

Ron shook his head. "That's not the point, Fred will probably try to joke around a bit and something will go wrong. I can feel it." The red head had been pacing around leaving the transfiguration essay lie blank on the table.

"Ron, it's not like you're going to be able to go stop them from having their date so just sit back and relax." Harry had gotten a little annoyed with his friend. "We'll talk to her tomorrow."

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Walking through the deserted corridors Fred was continually trying to make Hermione laugh and smile, but beneath the goofy exterior the red-head was very nervous.

"Here we are, just stand there for a moment." Pacing in front of the room three times Fred thought about a room with padding all over the walls and two brooms. When the door appeared Hermione gasped and smiled brightly, when the pair walked into the room Hermione's smiled fell into an astonished "O" as she looked in the corner and saw the brooms.

"Ok," Fred said taking the brooms into his hands. "What you need to do it first tell the broom who's boss. You'll learn this in Madame Hooch's class but it's always better if you know the basics beforehand." Laying the brooms on the floor he positioned Hermione to stand next to one. "Now hold your hand over it and say 'up!' so it knows you're the one commanding it." Following the instructions, Hermione got the boom to fly into her hand on the second try. "Not bad, now put your leg over the boom like I have. Then gently kick off, you don't want to be at the ceiling right now so just a little push and you'll be fine.

With Hermione's heart racing, she kicked off a little too hard and ended up thirty feet in the air. Fred raced up next to her to make sure she wouldn't fall. "That was a good kick off for a quidditch game." The joking wasn't making her feel any less anxious to get off the wooden stick but she managed a chuckle anyway.

"How do I get down?"

"Angle your broom down a little bit," as she did this Hermione saw that she was slowly moving back towards the floor. "If you want to try moving to the left or right just angle your broom whichever way you want to go." Tilting the broom to the right Fred saw that she was just going to spiral down towards the floor at a slow pace.

Finally the two were on the floor and Hermione was grinning. "That was nerve-racking but fun!"

"Do you want to give it another go, or would you rather get on with the rest of the date and try again later?"

Hermione looked confused. "I thought this was the date?"

"You haven't been on many dates have you?" Fred joked, but noticing the blush that crept up on the girls cheeks he back-tracked. "It's not a bad thing, trust me. Besides, I'm honored to be your first date." Bowing so low his nose brushed the floor Fred stood to see Hermione laughing. "Now, how about we get rid of these mats," Hermione was shocked to find the mats disappeared at the simple say-so from Fred. "We'll add a couch, and some lighting, and then a table of food." Just as the mats had disappeared, everything Fred mentioned appeared.

The pair sat on the couch and started eating snacking on some of the foods that were laid out on the table.

"So, where are you from Mia?"

"Outside London, my parents are dentists there." Taking a sip of juice, she shrugged. "I guess they really wanted me to be a dentist too. Where are you from?"

"Ottery St. Catchpole, it's a wizarding village a little south of London."

And for the next few hours, the pair sat and talked about themselves trying to learn as much as possible about the other as they could. Eventually Fred looked at the clock on the wall.

"It's nearly midnight; we should head back to the tower."

Hermione's eyes got wide. "But it's after curfew, how will we get back without getting into trouble?"

"We won't get into trouble Mia," Smirking mischievously, Fred pulled folded up parchment from his pocket. "I'll just make sure the hall is clear then we can run." Hermione's curiosity got the better of her as she moved towards the tall red-head and watched as he whispered and a map appeared. "It's called the Marauder's Map, George and I nicked it from Filch our first year. It's come in real handy."

Looking around at the few dots that were roaming the halls Fred established that it was safe for them to get back to the tower, but they would have to be quick about it.

"Filch is coming this way so we need to run along this part of the corridor." Fred whispered, tickling Hermione's ear. Then reaching down and grabbing the smaller hand in his own, he started to run.

"Who's there?" They heard the crotchety old caretaker yell after them, but turning a corner they could not be seen anymore.

After a few more moments of running the Fat lady appeared in the distance opening for them with the password. There was no one in the common room when they arrived, it seemed as though everyone had gone to bed but Hermione and Fred both knew that they would be up for hours talking with their friends.

"I had a lot of fun," Hermione smiled at her date. "Maybe we could do it again sometime?"

"It's a date." Pulling the small and feminine hand that he was still holding up to his lips, Fred kissed it and waited for the girl to disappear up the stairs.

Dancing around the common room, Fred punched the air with delight. _She wanted another date!_ The excitement inside of his was more than he could handle alone so he ran up to his dorm and as expected no one was asleep.

George, Lee, and Wood all sat there with anxious looks on their faces. Fortunately, Wood had the foresight to cast a silencing charm on the door in case there was any sort of yelling.

"She wants a second date!"

There was an explosion between the four men, congratulations to Fred and clapping before they had him sit down and talk about how the date went.

Similarly, in the girl's dorm Hermione was giving a play by play to the girls who were oohing and ahhing their way through the story. When she got to the end of the date, when Fred kissed the back of her hand the girls yelled with joy.

"It seems like you had a great time." Katie turned off the lights and crawled into bed.

"I think I really did."

**A/N: I would like to take this time and mention how upset I am that the Harry Potter movies are over. Obviously I prefer the books, but this still symbolizes the end of an era; an era we all grew up with and loved and I want to say thank you to J.K. Rowling for giving us an opportunity to turn to magic and forget reality between the pages of such an astounding series.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Ron was scowling over his breakfast, and Harry knew there was nothing he could do to make it stop.

"Looks like she enjoyed herself," He muttered before shoving eggs into his mouth and chewing with enough angst for all of them.

"Ron I'm sure she had a great time but why are you so upset about it?"

"Because it's my brother! One of the twins nonetheless, they're not known for being the nicest people in the castle. In fact they prank anyone who stands next to them outside; the only people they enjoy hanging out with are the quidditch team and our oldest brothers." The ranting ended when Hermione stood from the Gryffindor table and walked towards the boys.

"Morning," She sat down and helped herself to a goblet of pumpkin juice. "What's got his wand in a twist?"

Draco gave out a bitter laugh. "Been going on about your date since yesterday, seems a bit jealous to me." Ron's ears turned red, but he didn't speak. "How was it anyway?"

Feeling a blush creeping on Hermione tried her best to breathe normally and keep it under control. "It was fun, he taught me how to fly and we talked for awhile."

"You actually talked?" The words came out of Ron's mouth before he knew it, after he realized that almost everyone at Slytherin table was staring at him the red in his ears got darker.

"Yes, we talked for a few hours. That's all we did." The pointed look Ron was getting seemed painful for the other three boys who shuddered at the thought of being on the receiving end. Ever.

Harry stood, saving the day. "We need to get to transfiguration or McGonagall will skin us alive."

The rest of the day Ron made sure not to mention the date around Hermione and in doing so he barely spoke.

"I mean really, what does she see in him? He's exactly the same as George!" All the boys could do was shrug; the questions Ron yelled out in the corridors were causing people to talk about how Fred Weasley was dating a first year. Things were bound to get uncomfortable.

At lunch the twins marched over to the Slytherin table and sat across from their little brother, staring him down. "Word has it that you're not enjoying the fact that your friend likes me more than you."

"We are the better looking Weasley's at Hogwarts so it's not much of a surprise." George chimed in. "But you're causing quite a scene Ronnikins, so if you have something to say about Fred's date then say it now to our face instead of out in the hall."

The silence between them was uncomfortable and Ron was squirming under the pressure.

"I just don't like you fancying one of my friends! It's weird and you're older and it's not fair because now she's only going to want to talk about you."

Standing the twins were smirking down at Ron, "Doesn't that feel better?" One of them asked as they walked away back to their table.

The rest of the day went by slowly for the Slytherin boys, Pansy Parkinson had been trying to latch herself onto Draco's arm half the day but he always shrugged her off with a lame excuse and while Harry and Ron didn't understand the connection between the two, Blaise laughed heartily at his friends misfortune every time it happened.

"Why is she so obsessed with you?" Harry asked after another scene Pansy caused after being rejected.

"Our parents have been friends since we were in diapers and she thinks that because of that, we're meant to be together. She doesn't realize it's just not happening." Draco was annoyed, his pointed chin got even pointier and his scowl fiercer, no one dared come near the group as they walked through the corridors towards the dungeons.

A group of girls giggled as they walked past, one of them boldly saying hi to Harry as they went. Ron shook his head with disgust.

"I don't understand how you two get all the attention. Why isn't anyone interested in me?"

"You sound like a girl," Blaise laughed as the four collapsed onto the leather couches. "Besides, haven't you noticed that you're with Harry Potter: the boy who lived and Draco Malfoy: who has a prominent family?"

Ron's scowl got deeper. "That doesn't mean that no one should be interested in me or you for that matter."

"Blaise has got Daphne Greengrass though," Draco absentmindedly added to the conversation.

"So it's just me then," Since being confronted by his brothers, Ron had been in a bad mood and found everything he could to sulk about.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

_Dear Fred and George,_

_We hope your year is going well so far and that you're staying out of trouble. Ginny misses you two, she's been miserable since September first. _

_Your father has been hard at work but was bitten by a cursed tea pot a few days ago, his arm swelled to the size of a balloon! A trip to St. Mungo's and all was well._

_Can't wait to see you for Christmas!_

_Love, mum and dad_

"Oh look Freddie, Gin misses us."

"Looks like we should send her a memento of Hogwarts, any ideas?"

Looking at each other for a moment the identical faces grew identical smirks before declaring together: "Toilet seat!" and running out of the Great Hall.

The girls giggled but shook their heads at the childish ways only the Weasley twins could entertain themselves.

"How they'll get a toilet seat out of Hogwarts is beyond me," Alicia had seen the twins do many things, but sending home something from a toilet was beyond comprehension. "Just imagine what their mother would do if it actually happened?"

"So Mia, when do you think your next date with Fred will be?" At Angelina's mention of the second date, the other two girls stopped talking to each other.

Shrugging, Hermione pushed food around her plate. "I'm not sure, you lot have quidditch and Hogsmeade visits so maybe next weekend when nothing's going on."

"You know," Katie had leaned forward so no one around could hear her. "The boys know secret passage ways out of the castle. We could take you to Hogsmeade with us on Saturday."

Never having been the kind of child that deliberately broke the rules, Hermione was horrified to find that she was considering the trip. How difficult would it be? The twins did tons of stuff that they never get in trouble for; maybe it was time for Hermione to give it a shot.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun."

**A/N: Two chapters done in 24 hours? You're welcome **


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